JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After getting off to the best start in school history, the Lipscomb baseball team will look to carry that success into the weekend when it visits Jacksonville for a three-game series to open Atlantic Sun Conference play on Thursday.

With it being Easter weekend, the series will move from the traditional schedule to a Thursday-Saturday format. Game one of the series between the Bisons (17-9, 0-0 A-Sun) and Dolphins (13-15, 0-0 A-Sun) is set for a 5:30 p.m. CT first pitch. Friday’s game is schedule for a 5 p.m. start followed by an early 11 a.m. start on Saturday. None of the games will have live video due to scheduling conflicts on Jacksonville’s campus.

Scouting the Dolphins:

Jacksonville enters the conference opener with two wins against the Top 15 this season, No. 15 Florida State and No. 6 UCF.

The Dolphins are batting .278 as a team with 171 runs scored. Their offense has shown patience at the plate drawing a league-leading 127 walks.

This weekend speed will be showcased on the base paths as the matchup features the top two base-stealing teams in the A-Sun. Jacksonville leads the league having swiped 45 while Lipscomb has recorded 40.

Senior Angelo Amendolare (.364) leads five Dolphins batting over .300. He is also tops on the team with 40 hits and 13 stolen bases. Four players have scored at least 22 runs on the season.

Junior Connor Marabell has been the biggest offensive threat for JU. He leads the team with 12 doubles, 28 RBI and 17 walks.

Lipscomb and Jacksonville have met 35 times in the series history with the Dolphins leading the all-time series 19-16. However, the Bisons have won eight of the last 10 meetings, including 3-of-4 last season. The Bisons opened A-Sun play in 2014 in Nashville taking 2-of-3 before downing JU 2-1 in 10 innings in the opening round of the A-Sun Tournament.

Senior outfielder Jonathan Allison was named the A-Sun Co-Player of the Week on Monday for his efforts in leading the Bisons to a 4-1 finish last week. The veteran hit .526 with nine RBI, a double and a home run. The award marked the first weekly honor of the career.

Allison is off to a great start in 2015, leading the conference in on-base percentage (.482) and ranking third in batting average (.389), slugging percentage (.589). He is fifth in walks (17) ,sixth in RBI (29) and total bases (56).

Grant Massey enters the weekend riding a 14-game hitting streak. He has also reached base in 16 straight.

Martinez-McGraw is the A-Sun’s leader with a 1.20 ERA.

The Bisons lead the conference and rank 13th nationally with 11 triples on the year.

Lipscomb boasts the second best fielding percentage in the A-Sun at .976. That total is stands 24th in the country.

Freshman catcher Jeffrey Crisan leads the league having thrown out nine attempted base stealers Tyler Bethune led the team last season with 11.

Up Next:

Following the Easter weekend trip to Jacksonville, Lipscomb will return to Nashville to take on the defending national champion Vanderbilt Commodores in a midweek tilt at Hawkins Field. First pitch on the Tuesday April 7 contest will be thrown at 6:30 p.m.